Freezing tray release



26, 1939. J. H. DENNEDY FREEZING TRAY RELEASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ori inalFiled July 16, 1934 Dec. 26, 1939:. H, bENNEDY 2,184,662

FREEZING TRAY RELEASE Original Filed July 16, 1934 2 SheetsSheet 2 fines367378663? Patented Dec. 26, 1939 r FREEZING TRAY RELEASE I James H.Dennedy, Evansville, Ind, assignor to Sunbeam Electric ManufacturingCompany, Evansville, Ind, a corporation of Indiana Original applicationJuly 16, 1934, Serial No.

735,371. Divided and this application December 3, 1936, Serial No.113,965

8 Claims.

My invention relates to freezing tray releases andespecially tomechanism for releasing the freezing trays or ice cube trays against thetendency of their bottom walls to freeze to the floors B or shelves onwhich they are supported in the evaporators or cooling units of domesticrefrigerators.

Among the objects of my invention are: econ- I omy of manufacture;simplicity of operation; a 10 small space, especially in the verticaldirection for the normal position of the release mechanism: eliminationof the requirement for any special construction of the tray itself,whereby any standard tray may be employed with the release; 15 readyaccessibility to the operator of the manually engaged portion of therelease; the application of lifting pressure to the tray well back fromthe end thereof better to avoid permanent bending of the tray; mountingof the release mechanism on 20 a tray shelf without substantiallyperforating the shelf, whereby the release mechanism does not involveleakage of spilled water into the tray beneath; ready cleaning of thetray shelf or floor despite the mounting of the release mechanism 25thereon; and a release mechanism so designed that it is not apt tobecome frozen itself, but which if frozen is readily releasable.

The foregoing together with further objects, features and advantages ofmy invention are set 30 forth in the following description of a specificembodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through a freezing unit of adomestic refrigerator show- 35 ing the tray supporting shelf and bottomin section but the header in elevation, which may be considered as takenon the line ll of Fig. 3;

Fig, 2 is a plan section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; p 40 Fig. 3 isa transverse vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1 and lookingforwardly Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rod constituting themoving part of the tray release;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section taken 45 on the line 5-5 ofFig. 2 showing the bearing arrangement for the shaft portion of therelease rod; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section similar to the lower right-hand cornerof Fig. 1, but showing a 50 modified form in which the false bottom isomitted.

This application is in the nature of a division of my application SerialNo. 735,371 filed July 16, 1934, Patent No. 2,130,331, dated Sept. 13,1938,

55 on Cooling units. Reference is made to that application for detailsofthe freezing unit in which the tray release of the present inventionis incorporated in this illustrative embodiment of my invention.

The cooling unit designated as a whole by the 5 reference character l0comprises in general a shell II formed from sheet metal, a header I2 anda plurality of more or less U-shaped lengths of tubing [3, having theirends communicating with the header and received in corrugations M in the10 shell ll. Refrigerant passes to the header I2 of this evaporatorthrough an inlet tube HE. A horizontal U-shaped portion I6 isincorporated in the inlet tube Hi. This U-shaped portion I6 is receivedin a similar shaped corrugation ll impressed from the underside in asheet metal shelf l8 which constitutes the support for the upperfreezing tray here shown. A transverse embosture l9 toward the forwardedge of the shelf and substantially the same height as the embossedcorrugations I1 is adapted to support the forward end of the upperfreezing tray 20. Since the tray rests only on the bead-like upper edgesor crowns of the embostures I! and E9, the area of contact with the trayis minimized, thereby minimizing the area to which the tray can freeze.

The lifting jack 2| or moving part of the tray release of my invention,as here shown incorporated on the shelf l8, comprises a rod bent to forma transversely journaled shaft portion 22, a forwardly extending leverportion 23 at substantially right angles to the shaft portion, aninturned handle or finger engaging portion 24 at the forward end of thelever portion 23, and a crank portion 25 midway of the shaft portion 22.If desired a vertical riser 26 may be incorporated in the forward end ofthe lever portion 23 where it joins the shaft portion 22.

Bearings 2'! for the shaft portion of the lifting jack are provided inthe shelf l1,one bearing on each side of the crank portion 25. Thebearings may advantageously be formed as follows: for each bearing apairof spaced slits 2B are out in the sheet metal of the shelf l8.Simultaneously the sheet metal between the slits is upwardly embossed toform the upper half of the bearing 21. The. lower half of the bearing isformed by a bearing strip 29 similarly" corrugated, which is laid overthe shaft portion 22 and spotwelded to the underside of the shelf.

In order to minimize the height of that portion of the release mechanismwhich underlies the tray, and especially to keep the overall heightthereof as low as the plane of the corrugations I! and embosture Hi, theaxis of the shaft portion 22 is disposed in the plane of the field ofthe shelf I8. Accordingly the surface of the shelf on the distant sidesof the bearings 21 is embossed downwardly as indicated at 30 to clearthe ends of the shaft portion 22.

The crank portion 25 lies between the bearings 21 and to provideclearance for it, a circu lar depression 3| is embossed downwardly inthe shelf.

It will be observed that this mounting for the shaft of the lifting jackaffords no substantial openings through the shelf and that, therefore,if liquid should lie upon the shelf, it cannot readily drip through theshelf into the tray beneath. This would be objectionable if, forexample, the tray upon the shelf contained ice cream mix, some of whichwas spilled on to the shelf and leaked through the shelf to disfigurethe water being frozen beneath.

The lever portion 23 of the lifting jack extends along the space betweenthe side of the tray and the side wall of the freezing unit shell, whereit is out of the way and inconspicuous. Preferably the lever portion 23comes on the side of the shell opposite the hinge edge of the freezerdoor 32, with which the freezing units are often provided. Thus, thedoor, when open, does not interfere with the hand in engaging the hamdle portion 24.

In operating the release mechanism, which of course has to be done onlywhen the tray is frozen to the shelf, the handle portion 24 is engagedbetween thumb and finger and lifted upwardly which, through the leverportion 23, rotates the shaft portion 22 swinging the crank portion 25upwardly against the bottom of the tray. The leverage afforded by thelength of the lever portion 23 in proportion to the ofiset of the crank25 permits a sufficient force to be applied to the bottom of the trayand free it from the shelf with relatively little finger pressure. Thelifting jack will swing by gravity to its normal position illustrated,and this is further insured by the weight of the tray if the traycontinues to rest upon the shelf.

It is particularly to be noted that the lifting jack is so designed thatif it should itself become frozen to the shelf, but little effort wouldbe required to free it. This is because the portion of the lifting jackwhich comes in contact with the shelf is chiefly the shaft portion 22,which will readily free itself by rotation. There is but a smallportionthe crank 25which involves more than a simple axial rotation tofree itself of freezing, and this is not an appreciable additionalburden upon the bigger pressure applied to the lifting jack for freeingthe tray.

The lower freezing tray 33 may rest directly upon the bottom wall of theshell II, as shown in the modification of Fig. 6, but preferably a falsebottom 34 is employed. This has two-fold advantages. One is that thebearings for the lifting jack need not be incorporated in the shellitself, and the other is that the false bottom may conveniently beprovided with corrugations or embostures 35, somewhat like thecorrugations and embostures I1 and IS in the shelf for minimizing theareas of contact with the tray bottom.

As applied to the false bottom of Fig. 1, an alternative bearingarrangement is disclosed wherein the bearing strips 29, which form thelower halves of the bearings and are disposed immediately beneath theupper halves of the bearings 21, are omitted. Instead the depressions 30for the shaft portion 22 of the lifting jack beyond the bearings 21constitute the lower halves of the bearing. Thus the upper and lowerhalves of the bearings are axially offset. The bearing constructionillustrated for the shelf may be incorporated in the bottom or falsebottom, and conversely the bearing construction shown on the falsebottom may be incorporated in the shelf.

While I have disclosed these specific embodiments of my invention, Icontemplate that many changes and substitutions may be made withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of this invention.

I claim:

1. The combination with a freezing compartment having a supporting fioorfor receiving an ice tray and a forward opening for insertion of thetray, of a tray release comprising a shaft portion journaledtransversely of the floor and substantially in the plane thereof, acrank offset in the shaft beneath the tray position, a depression in thefloor normally receiving the offset, and a manually engageableportionfixed to the shaft portion and extending forward to said openingand laterally of the tray position for swinging said crank into liftingengagement with the bottom of the tray.

.2. The combination with a freezing compart-,

ment having a sheet metal supporting floor for a freezing tray receivedwithin .the compartment, the floor having upwardly protrudingcorrugations embossed therein for minimizing the area of contact of thebottom of the tray with the fioor, of a tray release comprising a shaftportion disposed intermediate said corrugations and transversely of thefloor and along the top surface thereof, a-pair of spaced bearingsfor-the shaft portion formed from the sheet metal stock of the floor, acrank offset in the-shaft portion intermediate the bearings, and afingerengageable arm extending forwardly from one endof the shaft portion anddisposed between the sides of the tray and the adjacent side wall of thecompartment for rotating the shaft portion to swing the crank portioninto lifting engagement with the bottom of the tray.

3. The combination with a generally planar sheetvmetal support for thebottomv of a freezing tray, of a release mechanism for freeing the trayfrom the support comprising a lifting jack having a shaft portiondisposed substantially in :the plane of the suport beneath the .trayposition and extending transversely thereof, a pair of upper bearingportions semi-circular in cross section struckv out from the sheetmetal. of the support and receiving the shaft portion of the liftingjack, the lifting jack having an offset crank portion intermediatethebearingportions, means carried by the support forming the lower halfof a bearing for the shaft portion, and a lever portion of thejackextending longitudinally of,'and at the lateral side of, the trayposition forrotating the shaft portion and thereby raising the crankportion against the bottom of the-tray.

4. The combination with a generally planar sheet metal support for thebottomof a freezing tray, of a release mechanism for freeing the trayfrom the support comprising a lifting jack having a shaftportiondisposed substantially in the plane of the support beneath thetray position and extending transversely thereof, a pair of upperbearing portions Semicircular in cross section struck out from the sheetmetal of the supportand receiving the shaft-portion of the lifting jack,the lifting jack having an offset crank portion intermediate the bearingportions, a pair of bearing strips having transverse corrugations ofsemi-circular cross section constituting the lower halves of the bearingand disposed beneath the struck out upper bearings, the strips beingsecured to the undersides of the sheet metal support, and a, leverportion of the jack extending longitudinally of, and at the lateral sideof, the tray position for rotating the shaft portion and thereby raisingthe crank portion against the bottom of the tray.

5. The combination with a generally planar sheet metal support for thebottom of a freezing tray, of a release mechanism for freeing the trayfrom the support comprising a lifting jack having a shaft portiondisposed substantially in the plane of the support beneath the trayposition and extending transversely thereof, a pair of upper bearingportions semi-circular in. cross section struck out from the sheet metalof the support and receiving the shaft portion of the lifting jack, thelifting jack having an offset crank portion intermediate the bearingportions, a lower bearing for the shaft portion being embossed in thesheet metal of the support, and a lever portion of the jack extendinglongitudinally of, and at the lateral side of, the tray position forrotating the shaft portion and thereby raising the crank portion againstthe bottom of the tray.

6. The combination with a generally planar sheet metal support for thebottom of a freezing tray, of a release mechanism for freeing the trayfrom the support comprising a lifting jack having a shaft portiondisposed substantially in the plane of the support beneath the traypositionand extending transversely thereof, a pair of upper bearingportions semi-circular in cross section struck out from the sheet metalof the support and receiving the shaft portion of the lifting jack, thelifting jack having an offset crank portion intermediate the bearingportions, means carried by the support forming the lower half of abearing for the shaft portion, a lever portion .of the jack extendinglongitudinally of, and at the lateral side of, the tray position for rotating the shaft portion and thereby raising the crank portion againstthe bottom of the tray, and a depression formed in the sheet metalsupport intermediate the bearing portions for reception of the crankportion.

7. The combination of a horizontally disposed generally planarsheetmetal support for the bottomof a freezing tray, a lifting jack having ashaft portion disposed transversely of the support on its upper side andat a substantial distance rearwardly of its forward edge, a bearing forthe shaft carried by the support, a crank portion offset from the shaftportion, and adapted upon rotation of the shaft to engage the bottom ofthe tray for lifting it, and a lever portion for the lifting jackextending forwardly from the shaft portion and at the side of the trayposition and to the forward edge of the tray support for manualengagement to rotate the crank.

8. The combination of a horizontally disposed, generally planar sheetmetal support for the bottom of a freezing tray, a lifting jack having ashaft portion disposed transversely of the support on its upper side andat a substantial distance rearwardly ofits forward edge, a bearing forthe shaft carried by the support, a crank portion offset from the shaftportion, and adapted upon rotation of the shaft to engage the bottom ofthe tray for lifting it, and a lever portion for the lifting jackextending forwardly from the shaft portion and at the side of the trayposition and to the forward edge of the tray support for manualengagement to rotate the crank, the

- lifting jack being formed of a single continuous length of rod.

JAMES li-DENNEDY.

